I am trying to chase down some rough cost estimates for possibly doing some work on AT&SF 811, a 2-8-0 in Atchison Kansas.

To that end, has anyone out there had asbestos abatement work done on a locomotive recently? If so, would you mind sharing what it cost? (looking at removing the lagging from the boiler and backhead, cylinders and air compressor)

I know there are an infinite number of variables, I am just trying to get a rough idea of what the cost is these days. Last time I was involved with this type of project was in 2000, I shudder to think how much costs have gone up since then!

Thanks

Jason Midyette

From year 2002:

100 ton engine. We had stripped everything off down to the jacket, and made the jacket loose. The asbestos folks came and put up their framework and plastic and airlocks. About 5 days to take it off and clean up.

$12,000.00

I'm curious if anyone knows how the current asbestos removal costs compare to what they were in the past. It seems to be a far more common thing these days, and it's much easier to find somebody who will do it, at least for the typical industrial work like pipes.

It used to be something that was a big deal, and these days it's like "OK, we tent it, take the stuff off, clean up, simple enough..." Has the increased number of contractors and the fact that it's become fairly routine helped the costs any?

In my experience it pays to get multiple bids. I've seen wide variance in price among different contractors. Likewise, the more prep work you can do, the better.

Alan Maples

The Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie has abated two steam locomotive boilers within the last year. "Our" approach is a little unconventional - two museum employees are licensed asbestos workers and can perform any of the work necessary. The organization contracts with an abatement contractor to provide supervision, air monitoring, and disposal of the insulation and any contaminated materials. This approach ensures folks who know what NOT to do to an artifact are involved in the process.

Details: The "real world" cost was approximately $15,000 - $20,000 per locomotive. Work was performed in the State of Washington where requirements are among the toughest in the nation. One locomotive was an 0-6-0 and the other was a 2-6-6-2. Steam piping had already been removed, and a containment structure was built inside the Conservation and Restoration Center. Beginning to end for each locomotive was approximately one week. Economies were achieved by using a community work crew to help construct the containment structure. Our awesome volunteers supported this work in measurable and meaningful ways, but never inside the containment because none of them are licensed to work with asbestos.

Here is a story about one of the projects: http://trainmuseum.blogspot.com/2015/08 ... moval.html

Neither Stathi or I enjoyed removing insulation because it is really hard work, but we are proud of a)keeping costs down, b) following the regulations, and c) not damaging the artifacts.

Good luck and congratulations on undertaking this work the safe way!

Richard R. Anderson
Executive Director
Northwest Railway Museum
http://www.trainmuseum.org

Be sure to identify ALL areas where mineral A is present. In the late 1980s, the county paid for the removal off 4-6-2 SP2479 in the neighborhood of $20k which included his construction of a temporary containment structure. The contractor complained that it was more work than he had estimated. Few months later, it was discovered the fire pan gasket contained asbestos. Same contractor was brought back and, you guessed it, made up for his underestimate on the original work.

20 years later, we partnered with another group for a concurrent abatement of two 0-6-0s. Getting multiple bids resulted in a significant savings vs just one bidder.

Good luck.

With CNR 6167, we noticed that the asbestos contractors loved mangling copper lines, and of course things went missing too.

Some tips from our work contracted by the RRMPA in the last decade -

- Photograph everything; ensure the transfer and custody of the photos;
- Tag all appliances, pipes, handrails, lines, the "jewelry", etc., with permanent tags identifying the piece, location and locomotive number;
- Remove everything in way of the jacketing. Get your best gal/guy on the torch - nuts are expendable, studs are not. 99.9% of the nuts will screw off with heat. Skim and split the stubborn ones. The blue-tipped wrench is also your friend on spanner collars and the like;
- Do not leave anything for the Asbestos contractors. If one has done one's work properly, everything should pop off.
- Expect contractor damage to under-jacket lube, steam and other lines.

There was residual asbestos on 470's cylinders, under her steam deliver y pipes, on the booster motor, and under the tender. We had to pony-up $5800 to have that removed and disposed of. Compared to other bids, that was a fair price and service was immediate.

While on the subject of the big A, some "tarpaper" used in old railroad cars may be asbestos based. Don't throw it into a bonfire! If it looks like tarpaper then it must be tarpaper right?
Mike N.

You may want to contact the Nevada Northern Railway. I was there two weeks ago and they were removing asbestos from a locomotive. Here is their website: http://www.nnry.org.

Adam Michalski
Curator
Nevada State Railroad Museum, Carson City